December 2026 — 1.1 update
A brand-new arena and boss, plus a new weapon and new enemies.
Progression and run structure
A run is nine battles across three acts, with shops, training, healing and surgery between them. The launch build gives you 70+ skills, 40+ items, eight beasts and ten difficulty levels. Here is how the pieces fit.
Launch-build numbers: 9 battles across 3 acts, 10 difficulty levels, 70+ skills, 70+ afflictions, 40+ items, 8 beasts plus variants. More content is on the post-launch roadmap.
The run structure
You fight through nine battles across three acts: Carthage, Germania and Rome. Each act ends with a boss. Between battles you make the decisions that define the run: which perk to train for, which item to buy, which affliction to accept, and whether to spend coins on surgery.
A run is not just a damage race. Coins, crowd favour, beast XP and afflictions all carry between rooms. The team that plans its economy usually beats the team that buys the first shiny thing.
Where progression comes from
Skills
70+ upgrades
Learn powerful skills to overcome enemies. Skills are chosen between battles and shape the build for the rest of the run.
Items
40+ weapons and gear
Spend coins at the Merchant on weapons, armour and consumables. Buy the item that fixes your current problem.
Beasts
8 beasts + variants
Earn XP with a beast to unlock variants with different stats, abilities and cosmetics.
Afflictions
70+ drawbacks
Healing and training can leave permanent physical or mental afflictions. The Surgeon can manage them between acts.
The Trainer
Training fills a shared XP bar. At the lowest difficulty, the Trainer may simply offer a perk. Above that, you choose how many reps to do, each rep adds pain, and too many reps cause injuries. The team shares the XP; the injury is personal.
Treat the Trainer as a risk-reward decision, not a chore. One player taking an injury to finish the bar for everyone can be the right call. Four players doing it is a wipe waiting to happen.
The Merchant
The Merchant sells weapons, armour and consumables. Priorities:
- Fix the run-ending gap. If you have no answer to shields, buy the answer. If you keep dying to chip damage, buy armour.
- Do not buy a second version of your first weapon. A backup is useful; a collection is not.
- Leave coins for the next act. A shop you cannot afford is worse than a shop you skipped.
The Surgeon
Between acts, the Surgeon can manage afflictions or offer body modifications that grant new skills. Every procedure has a cost. The Surgeon is the release valve for a build that has accumulated one too many penalties.
Difficulty levels
The launch build has ten difficulty levels. The demo introduced the names Pleb, Legionnaire, Centurion and Hades; the full game expands the ladder. Higher difficulties are not just bigger health bars: they change how much punishment the arena and its modifiers can throw at you.
Do not climb difficulty until you can consistently reach the act boss. A clean run at a lower tier teaches more than a wipe at a higher one.
What is coming after launch
Q1 2027 — PvP mode
Fight against your friends, with more skills and afflictions planned around it.
After PvP — More acts and beasts
The developers want to look at additional acts, new skills and afflictions, more beasts, variants and cosmetics.
Spend coins like a gladiator
The boss guide covers what each act throws at your build.